A Man and His Money eBook

CHAPTER VIII

THE UNEXPECTED

The blow fell, a thunderbolt from the clear sky.
It dazed certain people at first; it was difficult
to realize what had happened, or if anything had
really happened. For might not what seemed a deep
and dire mystery turn out to be nothing so very mysterious
after all? A message would soon come; everything
would then be “cleared up” and those most
concerned would laugh at their apprehensions.
But the hours went by, and the affair remained inexplicable;
no word was heard concerning Miss Dalrymple’s
whereabouts; she seemed to have disappeared as completely
as if she had vanished on the Persian magic carpet.
What could it mean? The circumstances briefly
were:

Miss Dalrymple, four or five days before Mr. Heatherbloom’s
term of service came to an end, had expressed a desire
to revisit her old home and friends in the West.
One of a party made up mostly of other Californians—­now
residents of New York city—­the girl had
failed to appear on the private car at the appointed
time, and the train had pulled out, leaving her behind.
At the first important stop a telegram had been handed
to a gentleman of the party from Miss Dalrymple; it
expressed her regret at having reached the station
too late owing to circumstances she would explain
later, and announced her intention of coming on, with
her maid, in a few days. They were not to wait
anywhere for her but to go right along.

The party did; it was sorry to have lost one of its
most popular members but no one thought anything more
of the matter until at Denver, after a telegram had
been forwarded to the Van Rolsen house, in New York,
asking just when Miss Dalrymple would arrive, as camping
preparations for a joyous pilgrimage in the mountains
were in progress.

Miss Van Rolsen gasped when this message reached her.
Miss Dalrymple and her maid—­a young woman
newly engaged by Miss Van Rolsen—­had left
the house for the train to which the private car was
attached; neither had been heard from since.
The aunt had, of course, presumed her niece had gone
as planned; she had received no word from her, but
supposing she was of a light-hearted, heedless company
thought nothing of that. It was possible Miss
Dalrymple had actually missed her train; but if so,
why had she not returned to her aunt’s house?

Where had she gone? What had become of her?
No trace of her could be found. Certain forces
in the central railroad office at New York could not
discover any evidence that the young girl had taken
a subsequent train. There was no record of her
name at any ticket office; no state-room had been
reserved by, or for her; in fact, telegrams to officials
in Chicago and other points west failed to elicit satisfactory
information of any kind.

Miss Van Rolsen found herself with something real
to worry about; she rose to the occasion; her niece,
after all, was everything to her. The Van Rolsen
millions were ultimately for her, and the old lady’s
every ambition was centered in the girl. She
had been proud of her beauty, her social triumphs.